My reading of the chapters dealing with Ekrem Saracoglu, Imperial Governor of Sector Pacis, has given me a negative impression of the man. I will try to back this up with some quotations.
(i) He is described as a notorious womanizer. This does not bother me particularly but it does set the tone for his dealings with Luisa Cajal.
(ii) Saracoglu is a dinner guest but Luisa's father, the admiral, is delayed at work so:
"'Thus you, Donna, have been told to keep me happy in the teeth of a postponed meal,' Saracoglu purred over the hand he kissed. 'I assure you, that will not be in the least difficult.'" (III, p. 471)
Some readers' skins will crawl at the purring although others might not notice it.
(iii) They are guarded/chaperoned by a Gorzunian mercenary who would not notice a human flirtation but:
"The trouble is, thought the governor, she's begun conversing in earnest." (p. 472)
He wants not to discuss current serious issues - like the coming war - but to continue to flirt.
(iv) I cannot quote everything here. Some supposedly self-deprecating chatter from Saracoglu is followed by:
"Inwardly, he grinned at his own performance. He, fifty-three standard years of age, squat, running to fat, totally bald, little eyes set close to a giant nose, and two expensive mistresses in his palace - acting the role of a boy who acted the role of an homme du monde!" (ibid.)
OK. We try not to be prejudiced against the guy because of his appearance! - although why does the author go out of his way to make this character so unprepossessing? - but it is clear that Saracoglu is a poseur all the way through. Nothing that he says is genuine. He tells himself that he enjoys such role-playing "...once in a while..." (ibid.) but how "once in a while" is it? My impression is that he might very well be just as dishonest inwardly as he is outwardly.
To be continued.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Point 1, but being a notorious womanizer with two mistresses did not mean Saracoglu treated Dona Luisa badly, which he did not, being always gentlemanly to her.
Point 2, I disagree, that "purring" was simply Saracoglu being courtly and indulging in mild flirting. I would also point out Luisa herself was not offended. That bit never felt creepy to me!
Point 3, it made sense for a high ranking official like Admiral Cajal to have guards for his family like that Gorzunian, esp. in a region soon to be endangered by war. And I sympathize with Saracoglu's wish to relax for a while from official worries.
Point 4, I was amused, not put off by Saracoglu's wry self-deprecation. I found him much more likable than that pompous prig, Christopher Holm, with his impossible longing to be a Ythrian.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Point 4, the behaviour that I drew attention to was not wry self-deprecation but conscious, manipulative theatrics.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
IOW, not so very different from how Nicholas van Rijn behaved. And you rather like Old Nick!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I like van Rijn a lot and I did think that there was a similarity. But van Rijn seeks honest profit for himself and his company whereas I think that Saracoglu is self-seeking in ways that are devious and dishonest.
Paul.
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